Bear Mangino - the REAL Mangenius

Thanks to my friend over at the Money Shot blog who came up with this....forget Eric Mangini of the Jets....the REAL Mangenius is Bear Mangino of the Fighting Manginos of Kansas....get Bear Mangino on The Sopranos....he should be the one sitting at Artie Bucco's restaraunt eating linguine then going and banging Meadow Soprano.....The Fighting Manginos went into Kansas State who was ranked #24 at the time and won 30-24.....The Fighting Manginos are now 5-0!!!!....

BEAR MANGENIUS

The players put The Boss in a difficult spot

With each passing hour, Joe Torre and the entire Yankees Nation await his fate from The Boss....after another disappointing finish to the season, George Steinbrenner has a decision to make - should he renew Torre’s contract or let someone else lead the New York Yankees....

As a Yankees fan, I am torn about what should be done....I could understand why The Boss wants to replace Torre....I firmly believe The Boss has nothing but good will toward Torre, but for the third straight season, the players who are on the field during the playoff games have failed their manager, their owner, and their loyal fans.....with this continuing failure, the players have put Steinbrenner in a difficult situation....maybe the players are no longer responding to Torre and his ways of managing thus a change in day-to-day leadership could be healthy.....

The blood of this disastrous playoff loss is on many hands....obviously the main culprit is Alex Rodriguez....throughout the series he had ample opportunities to provide a spark but failed.....in the ninth inning of game 2, with Bobby Abreu on second and two outs in a tied game, A-Rod could have won it with a base hit....instead he struck out.....in game 4, he allowed Paul Byrd to strike him out twice on just three pitches each time.....believe me, I don’t expect A-Rod to get a base hit everytime he comes up in a crucial situation in the playoffs, but damn, with the money he is making, he needs to come through once in a while....I like A-Rod - I think he is a good person.....you never hear about him involved in DUIs, dogfighting, thuggery, etc....but it may be time for him and the Yankees to part ways....he has $91 million left on his contract and if he opts for free agency in order to make more money, I don’t blame Yankees general manager Brian Cashman for saying that the organization will not pursue him....

Another major culprit who has as much blood on his hands as A-Rod is Derek Jeter.....Jeter is my boy!!!....but just as I praise him when he does well, I will also criticize him too.....he failed throughout the series by hitting into three inning ending double plays that killed possibly rallies....what I did not like the most about Jeter during this series happened the night before game 1....I read on ESPN.com where Jeter went to dinner with Cleveland Indians Kenny Lofton.....I don't think a player should be going to dinner with an opponent the night before a playoff series...this is the same Lofton who supported former Yankee Gary Sheffield in his accusations that Torre was a racist....that is fine if Jeter and Lofton are friends, but I just think it was not appropriate to go to dinner with an opponent prior to a playoff series....when the series is over, they can hook up for dinner whenever they want.....for me, that just did not sit well....

So we come back to the question at hand - should Torre stay or go?.....I just don’t know.....part of me does not want to see Torre go because he is a great manager who has displayed integrity and good sportsmanship....he has proudly represented the Yankees organization and I believe he is still a quality manager....he should be Manager of the Year for the way he guided the team this year after their 21-29 start....but maybe the players are not responding to him anymore....it is not a knock on Torre, but more of a knock on the players.....former Detroit Pistons coach Chuck Daly once said there are only so many ways a coach can motivate a team before they start tuning you out because they have heard the same message over and over.....maybe that is what has happened in the Yankees clubhouse?.....I don’t know.....

If Torre is let go, the players should not rip The Boss for his decision....instead, they should look in the mirror and realize that they were the ones for Torre’s demise....they were the ones who left The Boss no choice....

College Football Rankings - Top 16 + 1

It is time for Week 3 of the Stiles Points Top 16 +1 weekly rankings....

1. LSU (#2) (6-0) - @ Kentucky - Les Miles has the grapefruits baby....a big win for the LSU football program...they must be on Upset Alert this week when they head to Kentucky....

2. Cal (#3) (5-0) - Oregon State - the Golden Bears have the upper hand, but don’t forget that Southern Cal still looms on their schedule....

3. S. Florida (#4) (5-0) - Central Florida - the Bulls played a sloppy game at FAU, but managed to hold off a pumped up opponent....they have to get used to being the hunted instead of the hunter....

4. Ohio State (#6) (6-0) - Kent State - Gentleman Jim rolls Purdue....is Ohio State that good or was Purdue over-rated?....no matter what, OSU is still perfect and deserves a #4 ranking....

5. Boston College (#10) (6-0) - @ Notre Dame - the Iggles handled Bowling Green in a non-conference game....this week they take on their Catholic counterpart....are the Iggles going into a hornet’s nest in South Bend?....

6. Oklahoma (#9) (5-1) - vs. Missouri - OU took care of business against Texas....but a red-hot Missouri team invades Norman this week....

7. West Virginia (#11) (5-1) - BYE - the bye came at a perfect time for the Mountaineers as quarterback Pat Whites tries to heal....

8. Oregon (#12) (4-1) - Washington St. - Oregon saw how Wazzou almost upset Arizona State this past week....

9. Southern Cal (#1) (4-1) - Arizona - the Trojans need to get their shit together right now or they can forget about any BCS bowl....only Jim Tressel wins games even if his team turns the ball over 4 times....and right now, Pete Carroll is no Jim Tressel....

10. South Carolina (#13) (5-1) - @ N. Carolina - will the Tar Heels be on an emotional downswing after holding on to beat Miami this past week....Steve Spurrier vs. Butch Davis - like ole times when they were at Florida and Miami....

11. Missouri (NR) (5-0) - @ Oklahoma - the Tigers lambasted Nebraska....a win this week in Norman shows the country that Mizzou is for real....

12. Illinois (NR) (5-1) - @ Iowa - I like this team a lot!!!....but the Illini better be on Upset Alert when they go to Iowa....the Hawkeyes have lost 9 straight Big Ten games....

13. Auburn (NR) (4-2) - @ Arkansas - two weeks ago it looked like a rebuilding year - suddenly the Tigers have new life....

14. Florida (#5) (4-2) - BYE - Florida could beat over half of the teams ranked over them....they just happen to play in the toughest conference....

15. Kansas (NR) (5-0) - Baylor - the Battle of the Bears - Mangino vs. Baylor....Kansas has a solid running attack....and cb/wr Aqib Talib is an All-American....

16. Kentucky (#8) (5-1) - LSU - I’m giving the Cats one more week in the Top 16....then it is time to scat....

+1 Arizona State (6-0) - Washington - a win this week puts them in the Top 16....this just shows why Dennis Erickson is a good coach....

Dropped out from last week:
#7 Wisconsin - they need to regroup this week at Penn State and show the country they are not over-rated....
#14 Georgia - the Dawgs went into a hornet’s nest at Rocky Top....
#15 Texas - the Longhorns fought valiantly but lost to OU....there are better teams than Texas...
#16 Purdue - they had the home crown behind them, but Joe Tiller’s team put on a horrible effort...Akron gave OSU a better battle...

Monday Morning G.M.

Here are my thoughts on Week 5 in the NFL....

The Green Bay Packers lost a golden opportunity to take a stranglehold on their division....the Packers played like two different teams in each half....and yes, the Evil Brett Favre still looms after his pitiful second half performance....

I know he is pint-sized, but why doesn’t Jack Del Rio run Maurice Jones-Drew (photo) more than just nine times?....

The Atlanta Falcons running game is so bad that Artose Pinner was their leading rusher yesterday....Pinner had 1 run for 49 yards.....

The New York Jets should have made a move to draft running back Brian Leonard from nearby Rutgers....Leonard is a load of a runner as he has stepped in admirably for Steven Jackson.....

New Orleans - done!!!.....

Whatever happened to former Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert?.....

Denver is a team that looks good on paper but is worth crap on the field....

I like how Washington bounced back after that disappoint loss to the Giants two weeks ago....they were without their top 2 receivers and still dominated an up and coming Lions team....

A win tonight by Dallas will give the NFL and CBS what they wanted next Sunday - 5-0 New England at 5-0 Dallas....

Finally, the NFL is always looking for ways to promote their game....the league should consider having annual geographic rivals games....for example:
Giants-Jets
Eagles-Steelers
Cowboys-Texans
Redskins-Ravens
Rams-Chiefs
Buccaneers-Dolphins
Falcons-Jaguars
Lions-Browns
Bears-Colts
Cardinals-Chargers

Sure, not every team will have a natural rival, but the match-ups for these 10 games will sure elicit much attention from football fans around the country....the league offices will come up with an excuse about how the interconference schedules are already set-up years in advance....if there is a chance for the NFL to make, which this will, they will find a way to make it work....the NFL is trying to promote the league by having regular season games in Mexico City, London, and even possibly China....they are clearly missing the boat on these geographic match-ups....